Outline of Natural Capital thinking to inform the Management Plan
AONBs have a statutory duty to produce a Management Plan under the CRoW Act 2000. The Review of the Cotswolds AONB Management Plan to cover the period 2018- 2023 has begun. Management Plans ought to be the single articulation of the public agenda for the protected landscape, integrating national and local policies. The Management Plan review process coincides with the Government’s approval to support the Natural Capital Committee’s emerging 25 year plan for a healthy natural economy. The review process of the Cotswolds AONB Management Plan therefore is a test bed for the introduction of the concept of Natural Capital and the 25 year plan into the future management of nationally protected landscapes.

Professor Dieter Helm CBE – Chair of the Natural Capital CommitteeNatural Capital, the 25 Year Plan & Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Putting the environment at the heart of the Government’s post “Brexit” decision making process.

Merrick Denton-Thompson OBE – President of the Landscape InstituteA landscape perspective of the 25 Year Plan, the role of AONBs and their Management Plans. How do you put a “value” on the intrinsic qualities of landscapes.

Getachew ENGIDA, MBA FCA FRSAMr Engida has spent the last 20 years leading and managing international organizations advancing the cause of poverty eradication, peace building and, sustainable development. He has extensively worked on rural and agricultural developments, water and climate challenges, education, sciences, technology and innovation, intercultural dialogue and cultural diversity, communication and information with emphasis on freedom of expression and the free flow information on and offline as well as good governance. Mr. Engida joined UNESCO as Deputy Assistant Director-General for Administration and Comptroller in June 2004. He has served as Deputy Director-General since July 2010, and from January 2014, has taken on the added responsibility of managing the Communication and Information Programme of UNESCO. He also serves in a number of not-for-profit international boards.
Professor Dieter Helm CBEProfessor Dieter Helm is an economist specialising in utilities, infrastructure, regulation and the environment, and concentrating on the energy, water, communications and transport sectors primarily in Britain and Europe. He is a Professor at the University of Oxford, Fellow of New College, Oxford, and a Professorial Research Fellow of the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment. In December 2015, Dieter was reappointed as Independent Chair of the Natural Capital Committee. Dieter’s recent books include The Carbon crunch: Revised and Updated – and Natural Capital: Valuing the Planet . Yale University Press published both books in 2015. Nature in the Balance, edited with Cameron Hepburn, was published in early 2014 by Oxford University Press.

Merrick Denton-Thompson OBE FLIMerrick is the President of the Landscape Institute (President for 2016-2018), Chair of the Policy Committee, and both a Trustee and Fellow of the Landscape Institute. He is a founding Trustee of Learning Through Landscapes (LTL); as a Landscape Architect Merrick developed a unique vision for the potential of school grounds to give children a positive experience of the natural world and benefit from experiential learning. Before retiring Merrick was Assistant Director of Hampshire’s Environment Department, he is a Trustee and Chairs Marwell Zoo’s Conservation and Education Committee, and was a founding Board member of Natural England.
If you would like to attend the Annual Forum please email info@cotswoldsaonb.org.uk or call 01451 862000.

New book on the landscapes of the Cotswolds, its architecture, customs and culture. It celebrates the 50th anniversary of Britain’s largest Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Photographed by Nick Turner, written by Siân Ellis and designed by Nick Darien-Jones, it breaks new boundaries in creative photographic art, writing and design. There has been no other book on the Cotswolds quite like this one.

Here is quintessential rural England at its most idyllic, from the thrilling western escarpment and beech woods to historic estates and golden-stone villages built in the famous limestone that gives the area its unique harmony.

Captured in a feast of images, the landscape slowly reveals its stories: etched on rolling hills and in fields and hidden valleys by those whose presence lingers in Neolithic long barrows and Roman villas, grand churches and manor houses that echo the wealth of the medieval wool trade.
Designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1966, the Cotswolds is among the country’s most cherished places to live, work and visit: alive with colourful and rare flora and fauna, inspiring artists and writers, and bursting with eccentric traditions. Innovation is intrinsic to its character just as much as enchanting, timeless scenes.

This book – captivatingly photographed, exquisitely designed and sensitively written – celebrates what makes the Cotswolds so special, coaxing out its secrets and inviting you to look again and again at this muchloved, precious landscape.